"We weren't aware of any of the charges," she said, even though "our employee code of conduct requires any employee to let us know if they are arrested or convicted."

Besides a 2009 felony DWI conviction and a 2003 misdemeanor pot conviction, Anzualda's rap sheet includes convictions for six more driving offenses before she joined the district, including three DWIs, court records show.

Her hiring predated adoption of the current district policy on hiring/retaining workers with criminal records, said Winters, which requires background checks for all new workers and fingerprint scans for teachers.

The policy bans workers who've been convicted of sexual crimes against minors or offenses such as homicide and kidnapping.

Felony convictions on lesser offenses "usually bar" district employment, the policy says, but the superintendent can grant exceptions.

Similarly, any misdemeanor conviction may make someone ineligible, but exceptions can be granted by district staff.

Anzualda, 49, did not comment when reached at the school about two hours before her firing. Her record, and concerns about the district's enforcement of its policy, were raised by an anonymous caller to the Express-News.

Winters said the case highlights a flaw in the self-reporting element of the policy for workers and the absence of post-hiring background checks.

"We're having to investigate other avenues to make sure it doesn't happen again," she said.

Jeri Skrumeda, president of the B.T. Wilson PTO, said Anzualda's rap sheet wasn't cause for worry since there were no accusations of sexual offenses or crimes against kids.

However, she said it was a concern if Anzualda was required to report her convictions, but hadn't.